From: JoshHoff@aol.com
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 2:08 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Cc: Kisenf@aol.com; TorahWorld@gmail.com
Subject: Netvort:parshas VeZos HaBeracha, 5769
Where's My Shabbos?
By Rabbi Joshua (timelessly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
Outside Eretz Yisroel,
where Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah are observed on two separate
days,parshas VeZos HaBeracha is never read on a Shabbos.Even in Eretz
Yisroel,where Simchas Torah is observed on Shemini Atzeres,this parshas only
occasionally read on Shabbos, but is not assigned its own Shabbos every year,as
are all other parshiyos in the Torah.why is this so? I recently heard Rabbi
Moshe Weinberger cite the Kotzker Rebbe as saying that this parsha is beyond
the constricts of time,as represented by the seven days of
creation,and,therefore, is not included as part of the regular weekly cycle of
Torah readings. Although Rabbi Weinberger did not elaborate on how this idea is
reflected in the parsha itself,I would like to suggest a number of ways in
which it does emerge from the reading,and on that basis offer an explanation of
why it is read on Simchas Torah.
Parshas VeZos HaBeracha consists largely of Moshe's blessings to the various
tribes before he died,and,then,his blessings to the nation as a
whole,Rashi ( Devarim,33:13) notes that Moshe's blessings to the tribes
are very similar to those that Yaakov conferred upon them before he died,as
recorded in parshas Vayechi. Rabbi Shmuel Boronstein,in his Shem MiShmuel,
writes that Moeshe's blessings were eternal,and that they are applicable to all
future generations, since they are incorporated in the Torah,and the Torah
itself is eternal Thus,Moshe's blessings stretched back to Yaakov,and extended
forward into the future. Perhaps this reflects the eternal nature of the Jewish
people,as expressed in the kabbalistic concept of Knesses Yisroel,which
incorporates the past,present and future generations of the Jewish people in
its pristine form..The Jewish people is in this way a timeless
entity,encompassing all Jews throughout history.
At the end of the parsha, just as the death of Moshe is to be recorded,we are
told of the unique characteristics of Moshe, which distinguished him from
all otherprophets.No other prophet,we are told,arose for Yisroel like Moshe.
Interestingly,thousands of years later,in medieval Europe,an adage was coined
in respect to the great Moshe Maimonides, the Rambam, saying that 'from Moshe
to Moshe,there arose none like Moshe. Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky,zt'l, in a
magisterial essay on the Rambam, "Reflections on the Historical Image of
Maimonides" (translated from the original Hebrew and included in the
volume The Legacy
of
Maimonides:Religion,Reason and Community,edited by Rabbis
Yamin Levy and Shalom Carmy),studies the meaning of this adage and its
implications for the image Jews have had of the Rambam over the centuries.
Among other things,he says that this adage has taken the Rambam above the bonds
of time and space and elevated him to eternal life in the national
consciousness.( see page 17 in the essay). Rabbi Twersky attributes this
image of the Rambam largely to his accomplishment of incorporating all aspects
of Torah law and thought in his Mishneh Torah and Moreh Nevochim. Perhaps
here,too,we can apply Rabbi Boronstein's observation about Moshe's blessings.
Since the Torah is eternal,and the blessings are part of Torah,the blessings
are also eternal.In the case of the Rambam is comprehensive presentation of the
entire Torah created an image of him that elevated him beyond time, just as the
Torah itself is eternal.
Whether or not we accept
Rabbi Twersky's assessment of the Rambam,the observation he made is certainly
true in regard to Moshe himkself.His identification with the Torah ,as the one
who brought it down to the people from Mt.Sinai and taught it to them
,elevates him beyond time,and engraves an image of him,within the consciousness
of the nation, as the eternal teacher of the eternal Torah,given by the eternal
God to His eternal people. Perhaps,then,it is because all of these elements
converge in VeZos HaBeracha that it is not assigned it sown Shabbos,thus giving
it a timeless nature,as the Kotzker Rebbe said. We therefore read it,
instead,on Simchas Torah,when we celebrate the eternal relationship
between God,His nation Yisroel,and His Torah,as we dance around the Torah
scroll and sing,from the Tikunei Zohar,that Yisroel,the Torah and God are one..
A joyous Yom Tov to
all from all of us at Netvort Unlimited.
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correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address -
JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
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